Irish hit men kill off penalties

HOCKEY

HOCKEY

November 13, 2008|JAKE BROWN Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- There are certain things outsiders will never understand about hockey. Icing. Fighting. Offsides. The desire to throw one's body around like it doesn't matter. But if you ask anyone involved in the game, they will tell you there's a certain pride in the latter -- the kind of pride only a hockey or maybe a football player can comprehend -- especially when it comes to blocking shots while killing off an opponent's power play. "I think there's a pride in it," Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said Monday. "There's strategy involved, but it's still about the personnel too." The penalty kill is one of those times it's most important to treat the body with reckless abandon. Operating a man down simply requires getting in front of some pucks to muddy up shooting and passing windows. The No. 9-ranked Irish have proven especially good at it in the first five weeks of the season. As they welcome Central Collegiate Hockey Association foe Lake Superior State to the Joyce Center on Friday, the Irish are tied with Michigan State at ninth in the country on the penalty kill. So far, they've allowed just four goals while facing 53 power plays for a 92.5 kill rate. There is, like anything else, a certain strategy involved. What it really boils down to, however, is a certain fearless mentality. "Technically, there's a big component to it," Irish defenseman Kyle Lawson said. "But, I mean, when it comes down to it, you just have to have guys willing to sacrifice to block shots ... It's like an us versus them. It's all about hard work and sacrifice. That's the biggest thing. You can say so much about tactics, but when it comes down to it, it's how bad you want it." Often times, it's also about how bad it's going to hurt. There's no way around the pain that comes from sliding in front of an oncoming slap shot that can register anywhere from 80 miles per hour on up to triple digits if the player is powerful enough. What better way is there for a player to display his mental fortitude and endear himself to his teammates than by blocking a shot that could have been a game winning goal to thwart another power play? Outsiders will never completely understand it. It's the kind of thing, often unspoken, only gleaned in a locker room. Maybe as a result hockey players aren't "normal people." Not that they care or anything. "That's something that normal people don't see," Notre Dame center Christian Hanson said. "They don't understand what it's like to take a shot. They probably think it's stupid. "But to have your teammates have the respect for you to know that when a guy's winding up you're going to go out full force and you'll take one in the ankle, you'll take one in the shoulder, you'll take one where it really hurts for one another, I think that's just something someone outside the hockey community doesn't really comprehend." Now, as for taking one where it really hurts; there's something not lost in translation.